1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to enclosure boxes for communications wiring and, more particularly, is concerned with an angled interconnect panel assembly for telecommunications applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The organization and management of voice and data telecommunications networks in building and office environments involves the provision of interconnect panel assemblies in or near work areas. These interconnect panel assemblies establish connection points for both horizontal and vertical runs of cables with one another or with patch cords providing routing to work stations. These interconnect panel assemblies further facilitate terminations between the horizontal cables and patch cords which remain undisturbed when the patch cords leading to the work stations have to be reconfigured to make changes in work station arrangements.
One prior art interconnect panel assembly, which is manufactured and sold by Hubbell Premise Wiring, Inc., a subsidiary of Hubbell Incorporated, of Stonington, Conn., includes a box or enclosure having a back wall with pairs of opposite end walls and side walls defining an interior cavity and an open front, and an interconnect panel mounted within the box or enclosure perpendicular to the back wall and extending across the interior cavity between opposite side walls of the box or enclosure so as to divide the interior cavity thereof into separate technician and user chambers on opposite sides of the interconnect panel. These opposite sides of the interconnect panel are thus referred to respectively as the technician side and the user side. A pair of front closure doors which can be referred to as the technician door and the user door are hinged to the opposite end walls of the enclosure and can be closed and locked independently of one another relative to the interconnect panel so as to close the respective separate technician and user chambers. The technician door has an externally accessible key-operated lock which can only be opened by a technician who has the key and not by the user. On the other hand, the user door is a screw fastener which can be turned by anyone to lock and unlock the user door. The interconnect panel has slots through which a plurality of devices in the form of adapters or connectors are fitted to and supported on the interconnect panel. Entry openings are provided through walls of the enclosure proximate the respective technical and user chambers to allow insertion of the ends of cabling such as fiber optic cables into the one chamber on the technician side of the interconnect panel and optical patch cords into the other chamber on the user side of the interconnect panel. The connectors have faces exposed on the technician side of the interconnect panel to which the ends of the fiber optic cables can be connected and faces exposed on the user side of the interconnect panel into which jacks or the like on the ends of the optical patch cords can be plugged. The chambers are also large enough to store therein slack portions of the cables and patch cords.
This one prior art interconnect panel assembly has performed well and has achieved general acceptance among optical fiber interconnect products in the commercial marketplace. However, as with all products, a need may arise from time to time for improvements which will enhance performance and eliminate drawbacks which have been discovered during use of the product.